Afghanistan’s record of 14 World Cup losses was broken on Sunday, October 15, when their spinners helped them defeat England in a historic victory. As they attempted to chase down a meagre 285 runs, the Afghan bowlers, who claimed eight of the ten wickets that fell, utterly destabilised the reigning champions.
England would have been certain to win easily because dew would likely provide a pitch that was excellent for batting. But the early wicket of Jonny Bairstow by Fazalhaq Farooqi with a sharp inswinger set the tone for Afghanistan. The leg before wicket handed the Asians the early wickets they needed to upset England’s powerful batting order, even though it was a close decision. Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, who had made a memorable cameo earlier in the scene, had replaced Joe Root, setting up Afghanistan for a major battle.
Afghanistan is mostly dependent on its spinners, hence the playing surface today was significantly more suited to spin than it was for the earlier Delhi games. Immediately after, the seasoned Mohammad Nabi came involved, moving Dawid Malan, who seemed to be England’s primary batsman in this run chase. The spinners managed to keep the deck off the board long enough to start unsettled England’s batters, who were clearly taken aback by Afghanistan’s assault.
Harry Brook was always losing matches, but he could hold his own and had a nice appearance. England was still in the game despite the circumstances and their depth at bat. The owners of the titles sought to get an early advantage so they could profit from the later moist conditions because dew was inevitable. However, when the wickets continued falling, things did not proceed as expected. A pivotal moment in the match occurred when Naveen-ul-Haq nipped-backer to castle Jos Buttler, a player who can win games at the back end.
Afghanistan quickly took control of the game when Rashid quickly eliminated the formidable Liam Livingstone. All that can be said about England’s batting performance during the run chase is that they did not have a single half-century stand. At his end, Brook fought alone, and it appeared for a while that Chris Woakes could provide him the help he needed to win. However, Mujeeb reappeared, destroying Woakes before delivering Brook’s pivotal discovery that altered everything. After that, Afghanistan made history, and the only thing at risk was England’s margin of defeat.
Afghanistan achieved their highest-ever World Cup score when they batted first thanks to fifty-scores earlier in the day from Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ikram Alikhil. The former set the tone early on by striking first and hard, particularly in the opening Powerplay when Afghanistan scored 79 runs. With a new ball, ideal batting conditions, and a shorter boundary at one end, batsmen could have a field day, especially when it came to launching boundaries. Ibrahim Zadran, Gurbaz’s opening partner, produced a century stand that all but guaranteed Afghanistan victory.
More than 325 people were anticipated at the location, but England responded with their spinners. Adil Rashid used his expertise to his fullest to control the situation and instigate a little breakdown. Gurbaz was denied a convincing century by a thoughtless run-out, while Rahmat Shah was dismissed for a superb leg break. Livingstone and Root played a significant role in restricting Afghanistan’s forwards in addition to Rashid. The wickets kept falling, and for a moment it was like they were batting against India again.
Ikram Alikhil, though, gave vital support to the innings in his first World Cup play by smashing a fifty-run innings in the lower order. Rashid and Mujeeb’s cameos helped Afghanistan’s lower order, batting first, post their greatest World Cup total. Given that captain Hashmatullah Shahidi had set a target score of roughly 300 during the toss, it seemed like the eventual total of 284 fell little short of expectations. But Afghanistan’s spinners showed their mettle, sustaining so much damage that the match was virtually finished by the time dew showed up.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 284 in 49.5 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 80, Ikram Alikhil 58; Adil Rashid 3-42, Joe Root 1-19) beat England 215 in 40.3 overs (Harry Brook 66; Rashid Khan 3-37, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman 3-51) by 69 runs
